Adam "Roothlus" Levy has increased his starting stack more than threefold during the early going. He's sitting on about 15,500 already, having gained a lot during the first two levels busting two different players.
We came on this blind-vs.-blind battle between Erik Cajelais and an opponent sitting on either side of the dealer. The flop had been dealt 
. It appeared Cajelais had checked only to see his opponent push all in. "Call," said Cajelais, extending a tattooed arm as he set his remaining chips forward.
Cajelais had 
for the flush draw while his opponent held 
. The turn brought the 
, giving Cajelais his flush. But the river brought the 
, improving Cajelais's opponent to a full house and sending Cajelais out halfway through Level 3.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
||
![[user153906]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Mike "Gags30" Gagliano, who recently took seventh place in Event #46 for $83,428, took 6,500 chips into the first break of today's $1,500 event. But he's back to around his starting stack after bluffing off a third of his chips a moment ago.
We walked up to see Gagliano and another player seeing a flop of 
. Gagliano had position and called a bet of 325. When the 
fell on the turn, action was checked to Gagliano, who fired 675, and the other player called. The river brought the 
and action was again checked over to Gagliano. He bet 975 this time, and after a short time thinking his opponent called.
Gagliano tabled 
for a busted flush draw, and the other player flipped over 
for Ace-high. Gagliano is back to around 4,800 chips
Circling through the Brasilia again finds some late arrivers, including Jennifer Shahade, Thomas Fuller, Melanie Weisner, Toni Judet, Svetlana Gromenkova, and 2007 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Raymond Rahme.
Players continue to join the field for this last $1,500 NLHE event of the summer, with the big board showing more than 2,600 seated thus far. Meanwhile, some have already come and gone, including David Singer.
Late registration lasts until the start of Level 5, so we'll keep an eye on that "Entrants" number and see how this event compares to the other half-dozen $1,500 NLHE events that have been played this summer.
The start of Level 3 was delayed just a few minutes for the awarding of the gold bracelet to Panayote "Peter" Vilandos for his win over a tough field in Event 50: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em. That marked a third career bracelet for the 72-year-old Vilandos, after his having won them previously in 1995 and 2009.
The national anthem of Greece was played in honor of Vilandos's triumph, and now play is back underway.
Level: 3
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Players are taking their first 20-minute break of the day.
We're all locked into this event, although even the players are buzzing about Mikhail Smirnov busting both Daniel Negreanu and Tom Dwan in the same hand over in Event 55: $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop. With quad nines, no less, enabling Smirnov to beat Negreanu's and Dwan's pocket aces.
Smirnov, recall, actually folded quads yesterday in a hand versus John Morgan. No shinola.
We know for sure, though, that even if Smirnov can dodge bullets, he isn't Superman. That's because the superhero is here visiting our event. No shinola.
"This is the good table."
Said Maridu Mayrinck with a smile as we happened by her table in the Silver section. On the other end of her table sat Salvatore Bonavena and Lauren Kling, both of whom happened to have been engaged in a hand.
With the board showing 
, a river bet and call resulted in Bonavena tabling 
for a set of jacks that had arrived on fifth street, and Kling mucking. Bonavena has chipped up over 6,500 in the early going, while Kling has about 1,900.
Erm... not sure if this is true or not, but if your reporter were to try to check it out by walking all of the way to Buzio's, he may not ever find his way back.
mcmattopoker Matthew Affleck Just overheard floor Shaun Little telling customer his table was at Buzios. Assuming it was for the $1500??????
July 02 2012
Opening Google Maps on iPhone now, just in case.